Hlehel, who was granted unprecedented permission by the Israeli government to travel to an “enemy” state and participate in the conference, now finds himself waiting for permission from the Lebanese embassy.

However, Hlehel may yet go. According to Ha’aretz:

Lebanon wants to avoid steps that could be interpreted as normal diplomatic ties with Israel, so the embassy is considering giving Hlehel a special transit certificate that would enable him to enter Lebanon without presenting his Israeli passport, sources familiar with the case told Ha’aretz.

Meanwhile, Claire Armistead is reporting on the Beirut39 conference via Twitter. She recently observed: “Big Beirut talking-point – how do you reconcile classical Arabic with desire to reflect modern, local lives (there may be no local readers).”